The document reports on trends in program inquiries and employment placement rates in higher education, highlighting a 7% year-over-year increase in inquiries for November, with specific focus on the welding program as a growth area. It notes a decline in medical assistant inquiries and an overall increase in prices for inquiries. Additionally, it emphasizes the utility of market data for informed program decision-making by institutions.

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Program and Market
Evaluation Data
Employment
Placement Rates
Student Demand
Demographics
Wages
Programs Price ProjectsPlace
▪ Program Evaluation System
▪ Program profiles
▪ Program location
▪ Market selection
▪ Location selection
▪ Campus consolidation
▪ Price elasticity
▪ Price positioning
▪ Price optimization
▪ Business strategy
▪ Strategy implementation
▪ Complex analytics
Advanced Analytics
Predictive Models
Geo-Analytics
Clients: Higher Education Institutions and Stakeholders
Competition
Employer Requirements

3. 3Confidential
▪ Inquiries
National
Online & On-Campus
Program, Degree, & City
▪ Google Search Trends
Programs
Brands
Growth and Decline
Brand Reach
▪ Program of the Month: Welding
▪ New Features in the Program Evaluation System (PES)
▪ Summary

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▪ We started tracking Inquiries in 2012 and Google search volumes in September 2016.
▪ In our webinars, we share data for the last three years.
Source: GrayReports – Inquiry Trends, Gray’s Program Evaluation System

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▪ November volume rose 7% year-over-year.
Source: GrayReports – Inquiry Trends, Gray’s Program Evaluation System
+ 7%
YoY

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1. Conversions are counted in the month in which the inquiry is received (i.e., an inquiry that is received in January and converts in March will be counted as a January inquiry). Typically, the application rate
will rise for at least three months after the month in which the inquiries are received.
Immature Months1
Source: GrayReports – Inquiry Trends, Gray’s Program Evaluation System
-14% YoY

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▪ Year-over-year prices increased 6.8%.
▪ November average PPI increased $1.49 from October.
Note: PPI means “Pay per Inquiry.” Inquiry price is the average price per inquiry from PPI.
Source: GrayReports – Inquiry Trends, Gray’s Program Evaluation System
+ 6.8%
YoY

8. 8Confidential
▪ Inquiries
National
Online & On-Campus
Program, Degree, & City
▪ Google Search Trends
Programs
Brands
Growth and Decline
Brand Reach
▪ Program of the Month: Welding
▪ New Features in PES
▪ Summary

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Source: GrayReports – Inquiry Trends, Gray’s Program Evaluation System
+4%
YoY

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Source: GrayReports – Inquiry Trends, Gray’s Program Evaluation System
+2%
YoY

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▪ Inquiries
National
Online & On-Campus
Program, Degree, & City
▪ Google Search Trends
Programs
Brands
Growth and Decline
Brand Reach
▪ Program of the Month: Welding
▪ New Features in PES
▪ Summary

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Source: GrayReports – Inquiry Trends, Gray’s Program Evaluation System
▪ For another month in a row, Medical Assistant inquiries declined almost 20% year-over-year;
Business Administration inquiries were also down again in November.

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▪ Health Services/Health Sciences has been in the “Fast 5” programs three months in a row.
1. Includes the 75 programs with the highest inquiry volume since January 2012.
Source: GrayReports – Inquiry Trends, Gray’s Program Evaluation System

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▪ This is somewhat better than last November, when inquiries fell in every city.
Note: The market for each city is defined as a 15-mile radius around the population center of its CBSA.
Source: GrayReports – Inquiry Trends, Gray’s Program Evaluation System

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Source: GrayReports – Inquiry Trends, Gray’s Program Evaluation System

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Source: GrayReports – Inquiry Trends, Gray’s Program Evaluation System

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▪ Inquiries
National
Online & On-Campus
Program, Degree, & City
▪ Google Search Trends
Programs
Brands
Growth and Decline
Brand Reach
▪ Program of the Month: Welding
▪ New Features in PES
▪ Summary

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▪ Gray tracks search volume for the 200 largest higher education programs.
In 2016, these programs produced 67% of all completions.
We track approximately 25 keywords for each program.
*Google Searches for 25 keywords for each of the 200 largest programs based on IPEDS completions
+0.1%
YoY

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Source: Gray Associates Research, Keyword Search Trends for Largest 200 IPEDS Programs.

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▪ Gray tracks search volumes for a sample of 75 higher-education brands.
Source: Gray Associates Research, Keyword Search Trends for 75 Brands.
-10%

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▪ In November, searches for the University of Texas at Austin rose by 27%, following a 33%
year-over-year increase in October.
Source: Gray Associates Research, Keyword Search Trends for 75 Brands. Minimum 2,500 Google searches

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▪ Inquiries
National
Online & On-Campus
Program, Degree, & City
▪ Google Search Trends
Programs
Brands
Growth and Decline
Brand Reach
▪ Program of the Month: Welding
▪ New Features in PES
▪ Summary

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Foundations of Program Sustainability

24. Student
Demand
Employment
Degree
Fit
Competitive
Intensity

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Program 6
Program 7
Program 8
Program 9
Program 10
Program 1
Program 2
Program 3
Program 4

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▪ Welding is an attractive career for many young people who must get trained to become welders.
▪ Certificate- and Associate-degree programs can satisfy the training requirements.
▪ The job appeal and training requirements drive high search demand for welding programs.

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▪ Over 865 institutions teach this program nationwide, with 34 schools entering in 2017.
▪ Nonetheless, cost per click and the Google competitive index remain low.
▪ The median program size is 25 completions, ranking in the 90th
percentile for program size.
▪ Given the hands-on nature of the program, there is no online competition. It remains a local
program for most schools.

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▪ Slow job growth: 40th
percentile.
▪ High Direct-Prep job openings: 95th
percentile.
▪ 39% of completers go on to a career in Welding.
▪ According to BLS, “an understanding of electricity
also is helpful, and knowledge of computers is
gaining importance as welding, soldering, and
brazing machine operators become more
responsible for programming robots and other
computer-controlled machines.”

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30. 30Confidential
▪ Inquiries
National
Online & On-Campus
Program, Degree, & City
▪ Google Search Trends
Programs
Brands
Growth and Decline
Brand Reach
▪ Program of the Month: Welding
▪ New Features in PES
▪ Summary

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▪ For each degree-level, we show completions, job postings, and educational attainment.
▪ For example, 92% of National Welding completions are at the certificate level.
▪ 66% of the workforce reports having some or no college education.
▪ Colleges use the data to select programs appropriate for the degree-levels they offer.

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▪ Some graduates go into jobs for which they have received directly-related training.
We call these “Direct Prep Jobs”
For example, 84% of nursing graduates become nurses.
▪ But many fields (e.g., retail management) may accept any degree above a certain level.
We call these Generalist Jobs
For example, 96% of History majors go into other fields, ranging from attorney to CEO.
▪ This breakdown reveals thousands of jobs for which no specific program is required.
▪ It provides a much more realistic, and optimistic, view of jobs for liberal arts graduates.
▪ Continuing with Welding, we can see it is associated with very few generalist jobs.

33. 33Confidential
▪ Inquiries
National
Online & On-Campus
Program, Degree, & City
▪ Google Search Trends
Programs
Brands
Growth and Decline
Brand Reach
▪ Program of the Month: Welding
▪ New Features in PES
▪ Summary

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▪ For two months in a row, inquiries for on-ground programs have risen year-over-year.
However, online programs rose at double the rate of on-ground program inquiries.
▪ New Mexico and Arkansas continue to lead in inquiry growth.
▪ Prices for inquiries are more expensive in November than September and October.
▪ Inquiries for Medical Assistant programs continue to decrease.
▪ Welding programs are in-demand by students and have strong employment numbers.
▪ As always, good market data enables better program decisions.

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